Men's Track & Field Finish as Runners-Up at MIAA Outdoor Championship

Men's Track & Field Finish as Runners-Up at MIAA Outdoor Championship

HOLLAND, MICH.  --  The Trine University men's outdoor track and field team finished second for the third year in a row after the final day of events of the 2019 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Championship hosted by Hope (Mich.) College in Holland, Mich.

The Thunder ended the two-day event with a team total of 137.5 points.  Calvin (Mich.) College captured the team trophy with 180 points and host school Hope rounded out the top three with 130.5 points.

In the running events, Trine had one individual winner in senior Nick Zak (Saint John, Ind./Hanover Central) who captured the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:00.79, his first MIAA title in the event.  Zak also advanced to the finals of the 800-meter run and placed third after running a time of 1:54.49, improving his qualifying mark by over two seconds (1:56.89).

The Thunder also had a handful of top-five finishes in additional running event finals that included sophomore Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) who competed alongside Zak in the 1500m and placed fifth after running a time of 4:03.17.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) finished as runner-up after crossing the finish line with a mark of 9:33.46.

Senior Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) had the fastest time in the preliminaries at 50.75 seconds and improved that mark to 50.45 seconds in the finals and ended up in third place out of eight finalists.

A total of three Trine runners qualified for the finals of the 100-meter dash, including having two place in the top-five in freshman Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) and junior Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg).  Davis placed fourth with a time of 10.98 seconds and Root was fifth at 11.12 seconds.

The Thunder also had three athletes compete in the finals of the 200-meter dash, led by the duo of senior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Ross) and Root who both placed in the top-five.  Barnett had the third-best time in the finals of 22.26 seconds and Root followed closely behind in fourth place after completing the race in a time of 22.39 seconds.

In addition, the men had a top finish in the 4x100-meter relay.  Barnett, Davis, senior Eric Townsend (Greenwood, Ind./Roncalli) and Root recorded an overall time of 42.50 seconds to finish in third place.

Highlighting the field events on the final day was senior Jacob Payne (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) who became the third straight Trine athlete to win the event with a mark of 14' 11.00".   He was also joined in the top-five in the event by sophomore Alex Sliter (Bryan, Ohio/Fairview) who was fifth after clearing a height of 12' 7.50".

Rounding out the top finishes in the field events was a fourth-place showing by freshman Noah McClellan (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) in the javelin who recorded a best toss of 144' 7.00".

Trine is scheduled to compete in the two-day Dr. Keeler Invitational next Thursday-Friday, May 9-10 hosted by North Central College in Naperville, Ill.  The first events on Thursday are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.